


The Garden of Eden and Poison Apples

by fotoshop_cutout



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-08
Updated: 2013-06-07
Packaged: 2017-12-14 07:28:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/834275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fotoshop_cutout/pseuds/fotoshop_cutout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Team Sheppard departs to a new world and finds a civilization untouched by the Wraith, or so they say...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Garden of Eden and Poison Apples

**Author's Note:**

> This is part one of my Reverse Bang fic, the second part is in the final editing phase and will be posted shortly.

“All of your—what do you call them—P90s, ammunition to go with them and half of your drones.” Otham's tone was mocking as he spoke through the microphone, twirling a large hunting knife in his hand before he stepped back, blade pointing between Sheppard and Ronon who were both on their knees in front of the camera. “Or these two get stuck like pigs.”

Woolsey started to speak, not wanting to aggravate the situation, “What would be the point of the drones, you don't have a chair.”

Otham only smiled and tipped the knife's point in the direction of the camera, chuckling softly. “That's not information you need to have, my good man. All you should be doing right now is ordering your men to pack up everything we've asked for and have it sent through to us.”

“I can give you the P90s, but I don't even think—” Woolsey was interrupted by Otham.

“You can. And you will.” He sounded so very sure of himself, a curl of a smirk in the corner of his mouth. Rodney couldn't keep quiet and in the background anymore and shouldered forward to stand next to Woolsey.

“We won't actually,” He was about to say more when Woolsey turned to him with his usual frown in place.

“Doctor McKay—” But Rodney steamrolled over him, as he was prone to do.

“Not only would they be of no use to them, but we can't give them a weapon like that—” It was his turn to be interrupted, Otham was much better at guiding a conversation than Rodney was.

“You seemed to be just fine with letting us have one to look at before.” He wagged the knife back and forth and sauntered a couple of steps forward. Ronon leaned forward but was jerked back by the cloth that was thread between his teeth.

“That was before we knew you were a city of high-functioning sociopaths!” Rodney's voice was an octave higher than it normally was, “Besides, we didn't really think you'd be able to do anything with it—you don't have the equipment and if we can't figure them out without the chair you're sure as hell not going to.”

Woolsey knocked his elbow against Rodney's and scowled at him. He made a mental note to not let Rodney anywhere near a hostage situation in the future. He cleared his throat but Otham only huffed a laugh and didn't let him get a word in edgewise. “Well then, you still owe me the P90s and the bullets. I don't think I need a chair to operate those, and then we'll send the giant ape here through. I'll gut the other one and string him up as a warning, yeah?”

The gate connection cut and Rodney's last sight was seeing Sheppard's look of unease.

{BREAK}

They stepped out of the gate and looked around, squinting against the sunlight. The MALP had sent back positive information for climate and telemetry, but they certainly hadn't been expecting this. While they were surrounded by nature it was definitely maintained and seemed to be some sort of park reminiscent to Central Park in New York City, skyscrapers like fence posts around a chunk of controlled paradise. There was a group of joggers not far off who were slowing down to gawk at them and Rodney was already tapping away on his tablet, not having looked up yet. The architecture looked similar to Earth's, mostly glass and steel for the taller buildings and the shorter ones were what looked like a green-tinted brick, stone and wood.

“This place is amaz—whoa.” Rodney finally looked up, motioning with his stylus in hand. Teyla glanced around with wide eyes and Ronon shifted a bit uncomfortably. The only two civilizations in the Pegasus Galaxy that looked somewhat comparable were the Hoffans and the Genii. Neither of those turned out too well, even if Ronon hadn't really known about Hoff he had to be thinking that this was a little too peaceful for him to trust. Sheppard sure as hell was thinking that.

“Yeah, that's what I was thinking.” Sheppard half-grumbled, adjusting his gun against his chest as the group of joggers seemed to decide what to do. Three of them began a slow approach while one was sent running off in the other direction. Sheppard figured it was to get their leader or at least get someone important. He turned his attention to the three crossing the grass toward them.

A middle aged man with salt and pepper hair led the way wearing sweatpants and a white t-shirt, he wasn't bulky but he wasn't lean. He looked average in every way—brown hair, hazel eyes, not too tall and not too short, no noticeable tattoos or identifying marks. The two who fell behind him was a woman that tended toward Teyla's body type, fit while still being feminine, but had short cropped dark hair and had some black tattoos that looked like some sort of writing on the inner part of her left bicep. She crossed her arms when she came to a stop, still standing behind the salt and pepper man. The third was a younger man, looked about Ford's age (when Aiden had been alive), had light blond hair and blue eyes, leanly muscular and seemed to be quite apprehensive of Sheppard and his team. Sheppard put on one of his more charming smiles and reached up to put his sunglasses up on his head instead of shielding his eyes. He squinted a bit more now, but held out his hand to the man in front. He didn't get the chance to speak, though, as the man took his hand and shook it firmly.

“Don't get folks out here much.” He was sizing up the team, gaze lingering on Ronon before returning to Sheppard. John quirked one corner of his mouth.

“We're just visiting. Looking to trade and the like.” He wasn't particularly sure how to explain their presence, as he never was when meeting aliens for the first time.

“So heavily armed?” Salt and pepper gave an amused glance to their weapons and Rodney shifted to step more up beside Sheppard.

“Well you know what they say: 'Prepare for the worst and hope for the best'.” Not that he thought that this world had nuggets of wisdom like Earth did. He smiled disarmingly and hoped that it sufficed as a reason to be carrying so many weapons. This made salt and pepper smile. The other two didn't look amused, but Sheppard considered it a win because one out of three when that one was in charge made all the difference in the world.

“That's very wise of you.” He shifted and gestured to the two behind him. “This is Avin and Mags. I am Otham and this is the city of Eden.”

Avin, the young blond man nodded but didn't move to shake anyone's hand while Mags only narrowed her eyes at Teyla who was being courteous and smiling in their direction. Sheppard immediately caught on to why Rodney covered a chuckle with a cough over salt and pepper's name—it was one letter away from a Batman reference and Rodney loved Batman. Sheppard would have to remember it was Otham and not Gotham City. He did note the name of the city and found it odd that he lived in what was considered a mythical city by Earth's standards and now he was standing smack dab in the garden of Eden. His smile tightened minutely, but he gave no other indication toward his thoughts. “I'm Sheppard, this is McKay, Teyla and Ronon.”

Otham bowed slightly, his right palm flat over his heart, “It is good to meet new friends.”

Sheppard's smile grew again.

Over the course of a few hours they learned much of Eden and its people, including that they had never suffered the Wraith which seemed almost surreal in this Galaxy. They were walked away from the gate and into one of the skyscrapers nearby, led to an elevator and shipped up the fourth floor where they met Nerva, the woman that led trade, and Fisco, the diplomat (or so it seemed). Otham excused himself and his friends (the fourth one never appeared, but had apparently warned Nerva and Fisco of their arrival), and then returned later in uniform. He apparently led the police force in the city and the three who were jogging with him were his underlings (surprise, surprise).

Ronon had been on guard ever since they stepped through the gate and finally when Sheppard got a moment to pull him aside and act as if they were talking about the view from the thick glass walls of the corner office they were in, he asked what was up.

“I don't trust them.” Not one for many words, he just shifted and relaxed a little bit by casting a glance over his shoulder. Sheppard quirked an eyebrow.

“We hardly know them yet. How about we give it a little time before we judge them.” They left it at that, Sheppard's words acting like a reprimand and making Ronon act not so shifty for the most part. Rodney was verily jumping up and down with excitement when he found their level of technology was acceptable. They weren't weapons focused like the Genii and were much further along in the refinement of their tech, but were still no match for Earth nor Ancient. Still, Rodney had found a planet in their galaxy that wasn't in the technology stone age and that made him happy for the time being. He and Nerva were chatting with some loud pronouncements punctuating here and there. Otham joined Sheppard by the window and nodded over at Teyla who was talking with Fisco about their culture and how the quality of life differed here on Eden from the rest of the galaxy.

“You always let your subordinates make the decisions?” It seemed like a cutting remark toward Sheppard's leadership skills, but he chose to shrug it off and let it go.

“We've been a team for a long time. I trust them.” This appeased the other man and they stood in companionable silence, looking around at the other buildings through the window. By the time they left there was an invitation to return to Eden for negotiations into trade and perhaps an alliance beyond that. John was optimistic about this one—Eden seemed well put together and well governed—and Rodney was babbling about all sorts of inane science things. Teyla spoke up about the lack of the Wraith and that's when Ronon broke his stony silence.

“You see, that's what I don't trust about them.” That one pointed remark sat uneasily between them all and it was John who had to dispel it.

“Maybe they've been lucky.”

Ronon gave him a look that plainly said 'Do you believe a word of what you just said?' But they all left it at that and let the good aspects of this meeting wash back over them for their report back to Woolsey.

{BREAK}

Upon a second inspection Eden had distinct differences to Earth. Not just the green bricks, but the leaves on some of the trees were... interesting. Mixtures of purples and pinks, some stark white and papery. They seemed to be the majority, actually, as opposed to the green leaves that were on the shrubbery. And there was bluegrass running rampant everywhere, in fact Sheppard hadn't seen any green grass yet and it surprised him. Most planets looked like carbon copies of Earth.

Needless to say they were back in Eden, Team Sheppard was, and they were to enter into trade negotiations and try for an alliance agreement as well. John knew well enough to let Teyla handle the majority of it with Rodney as back up while Ronon and he just tried to keep their mouths shut. After all, he was hardly diplomatic and Ronon still didn't like these people. He put on a charming smile as Otham raised a hand in greeting.

“Sheppard, you're back quickly. I would have thought it would take longer to get an audience with your King.” Otham's baritone was smooth as he spoke, the same two he'd been jogging with the previous day stood behind him in uniform, still looking as disapproving and apprehensive as they had the first time around. John's smile widened as he shook his head.

“He's not our King, Otham, just our leader.” But he could tell he hadn't convinced the police officer. The man ducked his head and looked up as though what Sheppard had said was amusing to him.

“Still, we hadn't expected you back for several sun ups at least. You must be a powerful man in your kingdom.”

Sheppard just let the terminology go and quirked a smile in reply, “Well is it a bad time? We could come back...” He gestured over his shoulder at the gate, turning his hips and shuffling his feet to make it look like he was about to leave, his tone half serious and half ribbing.

“Not at all. Please, come with us we will take you to Fisco and Nerva.” Otham sized Sheppard up as he beamed at the man and strode forward to join him and his two underlings.

Once the talking got started it actually roped everyone in. Even Ronon was chipping in, which was unusual even if he did like the people. Otham spoke across the table to Sheppard, distracting him from the ongoing negotiations. “So what are those weapons you carry?”

“Oh these?” John gestured toward the P90 still clipped onto his tac vest. He unclasped it and set it on the table. “A gun. More specifically a P90. It's standard issue for our teams along with our side arms—pistols, another kind of gun. They shoot bullets, little metal objects, at high speed. They do lots of damage and are very loud. I'll show you some time.”

Otham found this very agreeable and John turned back to the conversation about the vegetables that Eden had to offer. He missed the look Ronon was giving to the two of them. A break for lunch which was presented to them at a table on a terrace that looked out into the Central Park look alike, and they found that the people of Eden had many foods similar to theirs. They all happily chowed down and chatted among themselves. Rodney wanted to see if he could come back to see more of the sciencey technology they had which had been spoken of but not seen yet. He babbled non-stop about it, even though he was chewing on some soft cheese spread over crackers.

When they returned to the meeting room they switched gears to talk about an alliance, in which John was one of the first to speak. “Of all the worlds we've been to you've withstood the Wraith attacks the best, which only leads my people to believe that you would make good allies for us in our fight against them.”

Okay, so he still wasn't exactly a diplomat, but Teyla had been glossing over that whole issue. She gave him a sharp look and Nerva looked over at Fisco and Otham's expression turned stony for a moment before it cleared and he too looked to Fisco. Fisco looked puzzled. “I'm sorry, what are the Wraith?”

That opened up a whole can of worms in which Ronon kept casting 'I told you so' looks over to Sheppard (which he ignored). Teyla explained as best she could, but Fisco had an interesting reply.

“We've heard stories, of course, but we thought it was like the Boogeyman. Not real, just a fable to scare people with. You're sure these creatures actually exist?”

Their affirmative only seemed to make the three appalled and concerned. “Well should we bury the gate then? If they are as dangerous as you say we shouldn't take any chances.”

Once they got it all sorted out and convinced Fisco that an alliance with Atlantis would mean protection from the Wraith and at least a refuge if they ever came under attack, they moved on. And if that wasn't exciting, the next part was.

“If you truly wish to have this alliance with us we must insist that we get to know each other better. It would be an honour to host you for seven sun-ups.”

That was unexpected and sort of off-putting. Sheppard licked his lips and moved to protest, but Teyla knocked his elbow and made him pause before he declined. “Uh, can you give us a second?”

The three glanced at one another and then nodded, watching curiously as the four stepped to the other side of the room and conversed in hushed tones.

“We can't stay here for a week, Teyla.” Sheppard hissed and she gave him a look that he was sure was going to work well against Torren one day.

“Yeah, I don't like this.” Ronon rumbled next to him. Rodney also looked concerned, but then Teyla made her argument.

“What they have offered us is more than fair. Kanaan can take care of Torren and the days here are considerably shorter than the ones on Atlantis. I should think that seven days with these people would benefit the city greatly in the long run.” She spoke in her calm, even tone and made it rather convincing. Rodney even spoke up to that point.

“She does have a point, you know.”

John gave him a 'thanks a lot, McKay' look and shifted his feet before he exhaled heavily. “I have to okay this with Woolsey.”

With the decision hanging on what Richard said, Otham escorted Sheppard and Teyla back to gate in order to radio in. Teyla was convincing enough that she won Woolsey over, even though he was hesitant about the whole week-long thing. Sheppard assured him that they would check in every day and let Atlantis know if there was any trouble. Sheppard had to agree that at the very least these people were very accommodating. They were given a house to themselves and given a communication device that looked more like a walky talky than anything, that would call directly to Otham if they needed any help while they weren't in meetings.

It was only after they had been left alone on their first night there that Ronon crossed his arms and leaned back against a wall. “You know, this feels a lot like being a prisoner.”

Sheppard frowned but let the comment roll off of him, dismissing it as Ronon's trademark trust issues cropping up again. He leveled a look at the ex-Runner and spoke in a tone that meant that there was to be no arguments. “It's a good faith thing, Ronon. We show them that we're willing to stick our necks out on the line for them and then they will agree to do the same for us.”

Still, the man had a point. There might not be any locks on the doors or bars on the windows, but they were effectively cut off from Atlantis for a week. John didn't like how that felt.

{BREAK}

The first night everyone slept reasonably well. It was tough to get to sleep at first, but once John snapped at Rodney to stop mumbling to himself in his bed across the room from him they got to sleep easily enough. John woke up feeling better rested than he had in a long time. Even though Atlantis wasn't necessarily going to be attacked at the asscrack of dawn he still managed to find himself doing paperwork then. There was always so much damn paperwork. They were served a wonderful breakfast that was mostly fruits and had no grains involved whatsoever. McKay whined about no toast, but fell quiet when even Ronon enjoyed the meal.

Part way through the meal a knock on the door brought Nerva along inside. The woman politely declined the offered cup of fruit juice, but mentioned the shops and a free spa treatment to Teyla who seemed grateful for the offer and then whisked Rodney away to look at the technology he'd been so interested in. He was still chewing even when he gathered his tablet and trotted after her, looking significantly brighter than he had earlier when he'd noticed there wasn't any toast.

Ronon gave a dark look after the door closed and flicked his gaze over to John, who just dug in with more enthusiasm to the parfait he was eating. There was a lull in any small talk (or any talk at all) for a while and John thought he was going to have to address this regardless of whether he wanted to or not when he gave his last ditch effort at not-talking-about-it. “So Teyla, are you going to take her up on that spa day?”

Teyla's face broke from a neutral expression to a big beaming smile that could only make John smile in return as she scraped her spoon against the inside edge of a bowl that had cream and berries in it, collecting the last bits. “Yes, I don't see any harm in it. Would you also like to—”

John did cut her off on that one, waving his hand that was holding his own spoon and shook his head. “No, no. I'm quite alright without all of that. Besides, out of all of us it's the mother who deserves to get pampered.”

Teyla looked about to disagree, but her eyes studied him and she nodded, an acquiescing smile in place on her lips. She knew he was just being his typical self, avoiding anything that seemed like it had to do with discussing feelings or leading to a situation where that might occur. He couldn't help it, it was just instinct.

Leisurely, the remaining three of the team got sorted out for the day. Ronon didn't seem inclined to go anywhere, but John stuffed his hands in his pockets and meandered after Teyla toward the door. “You coming, Chewie?”

Ronon tossed him an irritated look and didn't make to move out of the rather comfortable looking chair. John glanced toward the window (the curtains were drawn, but sunlight was seeping around the edges of the heavy material) and tried to suggest with his expression only that it was a nice day out, so they should enjoy it while they had a day off. Ronon ignored it or just plain didn't even try to decipher his look. Sheppard rolled his eyes and took a step in his direction.

“I know you're not allergic to sunlight—” He started but wasn't allowed to finish. Ronon lounged back in the chair in a frustrated gesture.

“No, but I am to people who aren't telling the truth.” His tone was more of a low grumble, which was becoming more and more common since they had encountered Eden. John twisted his hips to glance back at Teyla by the door, trying to be as unobtrusive to their conversation as possible. He sighed and turned his attention back to Ronon.

“We're here to play nice, reap the benefits and maybe find something that could be a leg up in the fight against the Wraith. Can you just play along for a few days? Then you never have to come back here if you don't want to.” He sounded tired (tired of Ronon's bad attitude).

After a lull where Ronon moodily gazed at the wall, the big man spoke. “I don't understand why you're even thinking about trusting them.”

Teyla was trying her best to not seem interested, but John could feel her gaze on them. He watched Ronon put his feet up on the ottoman. Ronon was just rehashing the same thing he'd said the day before. John lifted one hand from his pocket and rubbed at the back of his neck. “I never said I trusted them. Just be friendly and maybe we'll get a great deal out of this alliance. For Atlantis.” Ronon rolled his head around to give John a level look, “For Woolsey?” Ronon's look only became more unamused, “For me.”

Ronon gave a heavy sigh, but still didn't answer. John took it as he would be civil and not go pointing his gun in anyone's face. At least not today... maybe. John thought about whether or not he should really leave Ronon unattended amongst a race of alien people whom he did not trust. He gave him a serious, appraising look and turned toward the door, gesturing with his free hand, “Let's go have this spa day.”

{BREAK}

Rodney, meanwhile, had been asking a million questions, rapid speed, and then answering them himself just as quickly. It was such a flurry of activity once he was in the same room as the Eden-Tech that Nerva ended up leaving with a hushed 'I'll leave you to it' while McKay was distracted. He hadn't even realized she had truly left until one of his unanswered questions still hadn't been answered. The man who looked suspiciously like a guard remained out the door and down at the end of the corridor. Rodney had peeked out there in hopes that Nerva had been lingering just outside and he could beckon her back. No such luck.

A little off kilter with the supposedly surreptitious guard posted at the end of the hall, Rodney set to work on seeing just how far along everything was. For the most part they seemed to be a little behind where Earth had been before aliens had supplied some knowledge that made their tech grow by leaps and bounds. They had radios, for example, but telephones weren't something they had invented. He supposed because everyone was well within traveling distance. Even the farms that lay beyond the city's bounds were a relatively short jaunt away. Which actually made Rodney wonder why that was. There wasn't any sign of an EM field, like they had encountered on the Lord of the Flies planet, but it almost seemed like there should have been. Unless the ZPM had reached maximum entropy... He took off like a shot after that and immediately looked up the history of the technology.

That was when everything started to get weird.

{BREAK}

Teyla seemed to be immersing herself in the culture and talked to the women who worked the counters at the stores like they were good friends. Since Ronon's comments John had decided to hang back a little more and observe for an even longer time than he usually did. He liked to know what he was getting into, after all. He followed Teyla dutifully, if only to get a better look at the layout of the city. If Ronon was perchance correct in his assessment of the situation, John needed a clear lay of the land to have any tactical advantage. Not that he was telling Teyla that. She kept glancing at him, a large smile covering her lips and dancing in her eyes. He smiled back, distracted though he was.

“Are you all right?” Teyla's concern had been mounting as John had become increasingly less interested in joining her inside the actual stores. He flicked a glance at her and wanted to appease her. He'd let her know if he thought something was up, but for now she should enjoy herself. He gave her a rather large, beaming smile to compensate for his recent attitude.

“Oh yeah, everything's fine.”

She didn't seem convinced, but they had been teammates for long enough that she dropped the subject and turned to something else. “I was thinking of going to that 'spa' they spoke of. Would you like to accompany me?”

Oh boy, didn't that just sound like fun. He grimaced slightly and she read his answer there, in his face. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea, so he spoke up before she could dismiss him and get a little snappy. “It's not that I don't love spending time with you, but I'm not sure that's something I'd be into.”

She accepted this answer and gave an acquiescing nod of her head. “Will you make sure Ronon is all right?”

He nodded and reached out to take the bags of items she had traded for. “I'll take these back with me.”

{BREAK}

Rodney had started out standing in front of a console, but had ended up sitting in the nearest chair he could pull over. He drew back in it, stunned into silence and putting his index finger to his lips in a subconscious shushing motion. He knew he couldn't go shouting about at what he'd found, even though he wanted to. It was his first instinct really. But he knew something was off about these people, just as Ronon had said. But this didn't make any sense. Well, it made some sense, but that was because Rodney was good at problem solving.

He supposed they could be lying about the Wraith because they had some secret weapon against them that they wanted to hide. Maybe something the Ancients had used. Maybe an Ancient—one of those Ascended ones that had the superpowers and the planet-protecting abilities. They'd met one before. His gut told him that wasn't it, though. The weapon thing might be the thing, but... Rodney knew he had to bring this information to John. He leaned forward and brought his tablet up, tapping away at it in a flurry. He had to make sure he had all the information. Ronon was right.

{BREAK}

John was heading back to talk to Ronon, maybe get him to come out and walk with him for a bit, share their observations. If anyone was better at that than him it was Ronon, even if he couldn't verbalize what he saw very well. All of that was derailed, however, when Otham fell in step with him.

“I know you're probably enjoying this beautiful weather we're having, but I wondered if you could spare a moment to show me how your Pee-Noin-Tees worked.”

John's pace was interrupted at that pronunciation. It took him a moment to figure out what the man had meant. “Our P90's?” He considered the idea for a moment. “Sure, I can do that.”

As long as he didn't go handing it off to Otham or any other alien, it seemed like an okay thing to do. Plenty of other planets had figured out guns by this stage or earlier in development, but just because these people hadn't didn't mean that they were going to be irresponsible with them. Not that John particularly wanted to test that theory. Not with his guns, not with him being held accountable. This whole thing could still go very, very south. He smiled and gestured to where they were staying. “Shall I duck in and grab my stuff?”

It really didn't take long for him to duck in, and Ronon just eyed him suspiciously and eyeballed the door where Otham was waiting with even more suspicion. He just watched as John left with Otham, going to the outdoor archery range—it was the closest thing they had to a gun range.  
The reaction at first to John's new and unusual weapon was confusion and bafflement. However, that was soon overcome by a plague-like curiosity that ended up drawing quite the crowd, mostly consisting of their police-like force. They asked a million questions, including how it was made. John pretended not to know much about that whole process, but he was detailed in the cleaning of the gun and how to aim and such. They might as well hear the safety procedures first, in case weapons were something they ended up trading, so no one would get hurt.

{BREAK}

The second day was bleak. McKay scurried off before John could even ask him how the previous day had went without so much as a word, which was not really an oddity. Teyla once again ventured forth into the city, apparently not having gotten enough the during the first day they had been in Eden. John wasn't exactly tempted to spend the day with her, but when he looked for Ronon he found that the man had disappeared off somewhere. Sheppard just hoped he wasn't getting himself into any trouble. That was the last thing they needed.

So he was stuck meandering around the housing they had been given. He tried to busy himself with organizing and reorganizing all of his belongings, but it didn't hold his interest nor did it instill any sort of passion. He didn't quite know what to do with himself. Otham had mentioned that he would be busy for the majority of the day; a meeting with Nerva and Fisco was to take place. Instead of puttering around the place he too tried his luck with the city. He picked a direction and walked.

{BREAK}

Rodney had taken off before he'd even really grabbed breakfast. Not true. He had nabbed two fruit parfaits but those didn't really count. They weren't very filling. He'd skipped himself back to the very same room Nerva had shown him to the day before, muttering to himself the whole way and rereading the bits he'd found the other day that contradicted what the people of Eden had been telling them. There had to be some reason why this was here. Some excuse. John would hate it if they lost another alliance because of Rodney's big mouth and the consequential misunderstandings that were sure to ensue if he were to open it.

Ronon brought Rodney a fully laden tray of a variety of foods. Rodney absently picked at it. “I just don't underst—oh.”

Wait—Ronon? McKay's attention jerked from the tablet he was reading from to the large ape-ish man who had slung himself into a nearby chair, switching between watching Rodney and looking around the area. Rodney wasn't upset he was there, he just didn't know how he'd come to be there or why.

“Why are you here?” His perplexed expression made the large, intimidating man quirk an eyebrow at him and settle back more, lounging in the chair now.

“I was bored.”

Confusion scrunched Rodney's features. “And being here makes that better?”

“Not really.”

Oh. Okay then. Rodney's face flattened out to a neutral expression and he swung back around to look at his tablet and the Eden-Tech simultaneously, “Just don't get in my way.”

{BREAK}

Sheppard didn't find too much of interest, but something (or rather someone) of interest found him. He'd been perusing a street market of fresh produce when she began gazing at him curiously. He wasn't sure why he noticed her among all the other Adams and Eves in the marketplace, but something attracted him to her. Not in that way—she was pretty, but he wasn't interested in someone who was maybe half his age.

“Are you one of the ones from Atlantis?” She ventured. He nodded, and from there conversation spawned.

Not only was she a wealth of local information (which he prized at the point because Rodney wasn't around to talk about his findings and Ronon was MIA... Teyla was—Teyla was shopping), but she was actually rather entertaining. She walked with him and pointed out little corner stores that had curiosities inside and places that he might find interesting. She was sweet in a gentle, bubbly kind of way.

{BREAK}

Teyla did go around to a few more shops, going further afield than she had the previous day. It was such a beautiful day, though, that she wished to spend more of it outside. The sunshine warmed her skin as she found her way back to the large 'park' where the Stargate sat. It didn't take long for her to find a seat on the green short-cropped grass. The ground waved gently in her sight, people using paths for the most part. There were families picnicking on the grass nearby, kids playing games and adults spooning out food and chatting while smiling happily. It was all very picturesque. All too perfect.

Teyla tried not to watch the families too closely, she didn't want to insinuate herself into anything or make anyone uncomfortable but she was curious now. She knew, having her own small family of Kanaan and Torren, that everything was rarely as perfect as Eden seemed to be presenting here. It just seemed odd. Perhaps it was Ronon's words from the other day getting to her.

She shook her head and laid back, face up as she gazed into the bright blue sky. She seldom got any time to herself these days.

She had hardly begun to relax when a short but sharp scream pierced the air followed by a wailing cry of what could only be a young child. Teyla's torso levered up and her eyes widened as she attempted to find the source. It was a young boy quite near to her. No one else seemed to be concerned, so she got to her feet and crossed the grass to drop into a crouch next to him.

His ankle was twisted, it would be sore but he would be quite alright. As she soothed him she looked about for someone who might be his guardian. “Where are your parents?”

He sniffled his answer, pointing as he spoke, “There.”

That didn't make any sense. They were very near to where they were, but the adults were happily chatting among themselves without a care in the world. Perhaps Teyla was more sensitive to a baby's cries at the moment, or the wind had carried the sound her way and they just hadn't heard the crying. Carefully, she scooped him up and carried him over to the adults.

They looked up at her with curiosity, but not really any concern. The mother stood up and began to admonish the young boy in her arms without any trace of worry in the lines of her face.

“Haven't I told you to be more careful?” The words sounded as if they were more serious than what Teyla imagined she would say to Torren. She would have been frantic until she found that he was only marginally injured. This mother seemed to be going through the motions, but wasn't particularly emotional about it. Maybe something was wrong with her—perhaps she was sick or—she reached for the boy and Teyla, stunned at the moment, handed him over.

“He's all right. Just twisted his ankle. Rest it and he should be back to running around in no time.” She offered a reassuring smile and the mother of the boy just nodded distractedly, putting the boy down on the blanket and nodding to Teyla.

“Many thanks, my lady. I fear I would not have known if you hadn't brought him to me.” That struck Teyla as strange, but she just nodded mutely.

The whole situation was surreal, like these people were robots (not the Replicator kind) and had no emotions. She raised her hand in a parting wave and excused herself, retreating back in the direction of the unit they had been given to live in. She watched every family she came across on the way. All of them seemed to have miles of distance between them. Teyla couldn't imagine being so distant to her own family.

{BREAK}

John spoke with the young lady, Casandry, for such a long time that the sun was edging toward setting when he felt the urge to part ways. He pulled up short at an intersection, hands in his pockets. He turned toward her and smiled warmly at her. “Well it's certainly been a pleasure, Casandry, but—”

She interrupted, looking a bit wide eyed and on the verge of hurt. “Will we talk to each other again?”

He hadn't planned on it. He let out a slow breath and nodded slowly. “Sure.” He hesitated before he put more gumption behind his words. “Yes, yeah. That sounds good. I'm here all week.”

The last statement was said with a bit of a sarcastic edge, but Casandry didn't seem to understand that. Her blindingly bright smile, on the other hand, was enough for him. She bounced forward and kissed his cheek before darting back again, waving as she jaunted down the street, calling over her shoulder. “I'll speak to you soon, Mr. Sheppard!”

A little off-put by the interaction and the feeling of lost control over the conversation, John started back toward the house with his brow furrowed.

{BREAK}

The third day the dawn was dull and the sky was a gun metal gray, the sun hiding behind clouds and making the streets seem more muddy and murky than John knew they were. He twitched the window curtain back into place and sighed, hands on his hips as he turned back to eye Rodney who was looking off. He hadn't really spoken to the scientist, but it was almost like McKay was hiding something. Rodney was a notoriously terrible liar, so seeing through this was kid's play. John wasn't sure how to bring it up though, so he crossed to the table, rapped his knuckles on it and sat down heavily next to Rodney. The scientist didn't even rip his eyes away from his tablet's screen.

“Whatchya reading?” John's voice was still husky from sleep, but Rodney didn't notice, just pulled his tablet out of the reach of John's pursuing fingers and stood up, flicking a disparaged glance at the team leader.

“Just some stuff a low-intelligence individual such as yourself wouldn't be able to fully comprehend.” He managed to sound scared and arrogant at the same time. It made John's eyes narrow for a moment. Ronon walked through and picked up a utensil that seemed to be used quite like a spork was and stabbed some fruit with it, glancing between the two of them wordlessly. Needless to say, it distracted John for long enough that Rodney snagged more food and disappeared out the door before he could say anything about how bullshit that was.

It was a while before Teyla traipsed through, saying she wasn't very hungry and would probably fetch something later. This was odd enough, along with her quiet and somewhat distant behaviour, so John exchanged a look with Ronon and nodded to her when she went to the door. Ronon ducked his head and followed her out the door at a more sedate pace. John chewed his breakfast and figured his team was getting homesick. That must be it.

{BREAK}

Rodney knew he shouldn't have done that. So he'd left before John could either think of a suitable comeback or ask what was up. He didn't need to know yet, when even Rodney was still trying to figure everything out.

He had found that original file that mentioned the Wraith that set him on a search, and he was certainly glad he'd immediately copied the file onto his tablet because it had now been blocked from him and every time he thought he was getting close some other roadblock popped up. So he was getting nowhere and this one file could be excused as something written before their arrival, but edited after. Even if this file hadn't been touched in years and Rodney could prove it. He just knew that John wouldn't want to start a disagreement and lose the alliance they were building by accusing the people of Eden of lying.

So he was diving back in today, having thought of a couple of variations of how he could systematically search the Eden database for hidden files and get through any firewalls they might have—basically he was going to hack into their files and see what they were hiding exactly. He cracked his knuckles and rolled the computer chair over to the desk, starting in on the touch screen computer before him.

{BREAK}

Teyla was quite alright with having Ronon's company on the dreary day. She had wanted to head toward the park in order to watch, to be certain of how she felt about what she had seen yesterday, but the drizzling started and no one was about anyway, so she wasn't fussed when Ronon led her into what seemed to be much like the mess hall in Atlantis. It was quiet as it wasn't a usual time for people to eat, and they were some of the only ones in there; but they were shown to a table and told they were served on the house since they were special guests. While their steaming mugs were brought to them they sat in silence and didn't speak much for the next while.

Teyla appreciated the food and the service they were being given, they were most definitely being hospitable, but it still didn't quite feel right. Now that she knew where to look everything seemed like one big charade, like they were acting one way but felt quite differently. It nearly put her off of the food altogether.

Ronon, meanwhile, downed everything put in front of him with his voracious appetite working just as normal. Teyla tried not to let her feelings show on her face, but he was not exactly as civilized as the other two men on the team when it came to eating. She chose to look out of the window instead, finding the sky to be of little solace as it stared dismally back at her.

Ronon glanced up from his food long enough to study her face before he ducked back down to gobble up some more. He sucked off his fingers, wiped them dry and sat back to watch her. His voice was a low rumble when he spoke. “What's the matter?”

She took a moment to gather her thoughts and try to put them in some semblance of order before she spoke. After all, they were not only in public but she didn't want to say the wrong thing. Not that Ronon was anything like John or Rodney, mind you, and he already spoke out about his suspicions, so she should feel fine talking to him about what she had seen. She breathed through her nose and figured out how to put it. “I saw something yesterday,” She paused to look around quickly, to make sure they weren't being overheard, “And it didn't make sense to me.”

Ronon gave her a level look and kept lounging back in the chair opposite her. She realized shortly that he was waiting for her to go on. She took a deep breath and leaned forward, wrapping her hands around her still steaming mug. “I saw a mother with her child.”

She was trying to be tactful and yet put it in a way that Ronon could understand. Not being a mother and not having a child himself made it difficult for her to find the right words to say what she meant. “The mother did not seem concerned that her child was in pain, but instead reprimanded him and went back to what she was doing before.”

It made Ronon's eyebrows furrow, but not much more. He squinted his eyes and tapped his fingers on the table, an unconscious motion. “Maybe she was trying to use tough love?”

He didn't even sound like he believed it, but she sat back in her chair again and frowned in thought, her eyes darting to look out the window as people passed by again. “Perhaps.”

She didn't sound too convinced either.

{BREAK}

John took the morning to wash and write up a report on the week so far, trying to find a good way to put Ronon's disagreement into it without making it sound too important and eating. He was really beginning to miss having bacon in the morning, or at least some ham. In Atlantis and back on Earth he'd almost always had a good country breakfast to start the day off on, this whole starting off by eating fruit thing was a little bizarre. At least for his tastes.

By the afternoon he'd tossed aside the tablet he was using to write his report in a huff of frustration and decided he would see if Otham had the time to point out a good place to have lunch. He took his time to pull on his shoes, grab a jacket and make his way to the tall building the team had been in before to meet with Otham, Nerva and Fisco.

When he arrived at the door one of the guards right inside stepped up, “What can we get for you, Major Sheppard?”

He wasn't put off in the least, just dug his hands into his pockets and gave a charming half-smile. “I was looking for Otham.”

“He's in a meeting at this time, Sir.”

“Ah; do you happen to know if they will be taking a lunch break?”

The two guards looked at each other in confusion. “A mid-day break, Sir? They should be soon.”

“Do you mind if I wait?” He took a hand from his pocket to gesture to the bench seating over by the wall in the atrium, well within sight of the two of them. They shrugged and nodded and he ambled over, sitting down and looking around.

When Otham walked down to find him, John had started to get bored. Crossing and uncrossing his legs, jiggling one, looking up to see if there were any tiles to count... not that John was particularly known for his patience. He shot up from his seat when the man walked down, however, and immediately crossed the floor toward him. One of the guards pointed him out and Otham pasted a huge grin on his face when he turned to greet him. “Major John Sheppard! Would you like to join me for Mid-Day?”

His joyous tone had John agreeing even though he wasn't certain what all 'mid-day' concerned. Otham gestured toward the door and one of the guards darted forward to open it for the two of them. As soon as they were out the door, Otham was speaking again. “I trust your team is pleased with the accommodations so far?”

“Yes, they're very,” He fished for a good adjective, “Nice.” Okay, he'd been hoping for something a little better than that. Otham grinned in reply anyway. He flashed a smile he wasn't sure he was feeling. Should he bring up the fact that Ronon didn't really trust them? No, it wasn't that important, even if it was eating at the back of John's mind.

“Good, good!” Otham led him down a side street and toward another main road through the city. The roads weren't very wide as it was all foot traffic here, very few pack animals being led within the crowds. John followed Otham's thread through the crowds, trying to keep his balance. It seemed that everyone was out now, hurrying to get from one place to another before it started to rain again. Otham spoke above the den again. “How does this suit your palate?”

He gestured to a place that smelled like a barbeque was being cooked inside. It smelled delicious and immediately John knew it was going to hit the spot. He nodded, “Sounds good!”

Sure enough, the meals served were basically all meat with only a little bit of bread or vegetables present. It suited John very well and even though it was even more loud inside the shop than it was on the streets, Otham still carried on a bit of conversation with John, laughing loud and smiling a lot. He was actually a very funny man, with a slightly macabre sense of humour, but John had no room to talk, so he just went along with it, enjoying the lunch he was having with a man he hoped would end up being a close friend.

Otham sat back from the table, having finished eating a couple of minutes before and wiped his mouth with the napkin that was set next to his plate. “As much as I'd love to continue speaking with you, Major,”

“John, please.” Sheppard smiled at the man sitting adjacent to him.

“—John—I do have a meeting to return to.” He was polite enough that he waited until John had gotten up and piled his trash on his plate, to get up himself. They both carried their empty dishes to the designated area, a large table that was used just for that purpose, and dropped them off. They ducked out to find it misting rain down on them. Otham frowned up at the sky, but pointed in the direction they wanted to go in.

As they made their way toward the side street John took notice that there weren't many people out and about anymore. He supposed they had gotten to where they needed or wanted to be and were going to sit out the rain until they had to move to a new location. He couldn't say he blamed them. He was busy looking around when they ducked into the side street, so he didn't immediately notice the other people already there.

When he did he found it quite hard to look anywhere but there. There were a couple of kids, surely not old enough to be living on their own yet (but not far off), and a man and a woman with short-cropped hair with the arm bands that belonged to Otham's peace force. Now he wouldn't have considered this terribly strange, kids got in trouble all the time, but the officers weren't so much warning the kids not to do whatever it was they had done again as they were beating the crap out of them. Sure, the kids could have started it and sure, they could be having to use that kind of force, but it seemed so out of place for how peaceful the city normally looked. Then again, maybe he was just finally seeing the ugly underbelly.

He glanced over at Otham as they passed, just about ready to yell at the officers to lay off when he noticed how unconcerned about the proceedings Otham was. He wasn't really gawking, but he had taken the time to get a good look at what was happening, so he knew it couldn't be ignorance. Well, unintentional ignorance anyway. John nodded his head toward the quartet and looked at Otham, trying not to let his feelings about this show. He was good at being stoic.

“Stuff like this happen a lot?”

Otham gave him a glance that looked sort of like a frown, “Often enough.”

He waited until they had come out on the next street over before he looked back at John again. “It doesn't happen in Atlantis much?”

John's eyebrows raised as he shook his head. It took him a moment to verbalize it, “Not like that.”

{BREAK}

In the afternoon Rodney was cursing under his breath and tapping away when the click of heels started down the hallway. No one had been bothering much to check in on him, so the fact that anyone was coming down the hallway (and wearing heels) was cause for alarm. Especially considering what he was currently up to. He closed up everything, adrenaline rushing through his system and his eyes wide as he tried to bring something up that looked like something he might be interested in just as Nerva rounded the corner into the room.

“Dr. McKay, good lower sun.” It was what they called afternoon, and that alone was strange to get used to. She didn't smile, even if her tone was warm and sunny. McKay acted like he was distracted by what was on the screen and took a moment to sit back and regard her hopefully mostly without the cool suspicion that he was beginning to look at everyone with. “How has your work been going?”

Her mouth was tensed, there were lines around it that made Rodney sure that she knew what he'd been up to already. He tilted his head toward the screen to gesture at it. “Fine, fine. Wish there were more ways we could help you, really.”

For the lack of technology that was kicking around (meaning that they didn't have frivolous items such as cellphones, tablets, games or televisions) they were quite adept, he was finding out, with what they did have. Then again, if they did have contact with the Wraith as Rodney suspected, then they would have to have some know-how if they wanted to keep their database secure and out of the Wraith's hands. Nerva let the corners of her mouth curl up in a way that seemed almost sinister and Rodney's eyes flicked toward the door, wondering if anyone would hear him if he yelled for help. She lost the smile and shifted her weight to clasp her hands in front of her.

“Yes, well, we are really quite alright with our current level of technology. It serves us well.”

He could see that rather well, actually, having been blocked out of several places he was sure he could have gotten into just the other day. He gave a sort of grimace in response. Nerva crossed to the desk and leaned down to speak in a lower tone, eyes serious and sharp as daggers as they held his gaze. “I hope you're finding what you're looking for. You'll tell me if you encounter any problems?”

He could only nod and try his hardest not to say something that would only piss her off and get him in trouble with John and the rest of Atlantis as well. Not that after she left he wasn't going to go back to what he had been doing, even if he was bound to get in a tangle because of it.

{BREAK}

The fourth day they were in Eden Rodney disappeared before the others even awoke, leaving a note to say he'd be back for dinner and that was that. When the rest of the team sat down for breakfast it was accompanied by cracks of thunder and lightning separating the sky in jagged shards of dark gray pieces. They were all quiet; John looking resolutely at his food while he thought about what he'd seen in the side street yesterday, Teyla trying to figure out if it was a good idea to bring up her thoughts on what she had seen two days previous to John when he didn't look like he would be particularly accepting of ideas similar to Ronon's and Ronon who was casting glances up at the two of them. Ronon chased a bug around the table and finally smacked it down onto the table, squishing it. It made Sheppard look up, but that was about it. Breakfast was awkward and quiet.

{BREAK}

It took Rodney until just before lunch to realize that they had laid a trap for him. He was busy tapping and typing away at the computer system, a frown permanently settled on his face since yesterday and Nerva's little visit and implied warning to keep away from exactly the stuff he was still trying to get into.

The thing was that he didn't realize, didn't take the time to think they would actively try to trap him, so when he broke through and celebrated by punching a fist into the air, he shouldn't have been surprised to have the guard who had been keeping his distance up until this point stop in the doorway to the lab and give him a level look.

“Come with me, Dr. McKay.” There wasn't even a please in it. Rodney, however, just glanced from the uniformed man to the computer screen to the uniformed man again and then to his tablet. He snatched up his tablet, pretending to not know what this was all about even though his heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest.

“Where are we going?”

When the guard was resolutely silent after a couple of attempts and the walk down the hall, Rodney thought it was probably best to take his chances and run like hell—and so he nearly ran into Nerva, standing there with a stern face, crossed arms and tapping her heel against the floor in a steady staccato of 'you're in deep shit'.

{BREAK}

Over the afternoon Teyla finally ventured into conversation with John, which he hadn't realized she'd wanted. Since she had been withdrawn the day before and he was trying to come to terms with what he'd seen (trying to find some way to accept or excuse it, which he couldn't) they just hadn't been on the same page as far as talking was concerned.

“I believe we may have to rethink our alliance.” The words startled John out of his haze.

“Excuse me?”

To which Teyla must have thought it had offended him, because she balked for a moment before she pursued what she thought was right. His tone must have sounded strange and that was his fault, really, because it certainly wasn't hers. Ronon looked up from the window he was looking out of.

“I know you did not think Ronon's idea about this place held any water, but I have seen something to make me think otherwise.” Her tone was neutral and her expression was stoic, her words carefully chosen.

“What is it, Teyla?” He was actually curious. If she had seen anything similar to what he had seen, he would have to agree with her. He glanced at Ronon, but it was clear that he was just watching to see how this unfolded.

After she had explained her experience in the park, John was quiet. He glanced toward Ronon and then back to Teyla, taking a deep breath. “You're not the only one. I don't think they're quite as peaceful as they claim to be.”

When the two aliens didn't say anything, he continued. “I went to lunch with Otham yesterday and on the way back he walked right by a couple of his officers beating the crap out of a couple of kids. He said that thing happens 'often' here and didn't do anything about it.”

He pressed his lips together and exhaled through his nose, eyebrows furrowing. “I think you might be right, Ronon. I think we trusted too quickly.”

The conversation tapered off after that, no one quite sure what to do about this new found information. They settled to wait for Rodney to join them and speak with him over dinner about leaving.

Of course, dinner came and went and Rodney didn't show up like his note said he would. It made the team nervous, but not enough to do anything about it. McKay was known for going into scientist mode and forgetting the rest of the world exists. When he didn't turn up even though it was fully dark out, Sheppard knew there was a problem.

It took him all of five steps out of the house for one of Otham's officers to find him. “If you could come with me, Sir.”

John glanced back at the house they had been set up in and then back to the officer. “Are you bringing me to Dr. McKay?”

“Yes, Sir.”

John looked around, past the officer to see three others. Well shit. What had that man done now? He swung a fist at the man in front of him, landed one blow, but by the time he was raining a third blow down on the officer's shoulder the other three had gotten to them and pulled him off. Of course his plan was to be loud enough and obvious enough that Teyla and Ronon would slip out the back and be able to get back to the gate—it didn't work out that well considering the two of them were currently being dragged out of the house.

That sure went well.


End file.
